With the 2026 regular season down to its final stretch, rookie home run records are suddenly very much in play. One has already gone down, and three more are still hanging out there for the taking.
The biggest name in the chase might be Sal Stewart, who has turned his first full big-league season with the Cincinnati Reds into a monster. After a brief 18-game look in 2025, the 22-year-old has put together a season that’s hard to miss: through 136 games and 590 plate appearances, he’s hitting .265/.337/.484 with 30 home runs, 104 RBI, and 78 runs scored.
He made the All-Star team this summer and is leading all of baseball in RBI. By getting to the 30-homer, 100-RBI mark, Stewart also joined a tiny club.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, he’s the 14th rookie in MLB history to reach those numbers in a season, and only the fifth to do it since 1994. The names in that group say plenty: Pete Alonso in 2019, Aaron Judge in 2017, José Abreu in 2014, and Albert Pujols in 2001.
Now Stewart has another target in sight: Frank Robinson’s Reds rookie home run record. Robinson hit 38 in 1956, and Stewart still has work to do to get there, but the number is close enough to make this a real race as the season closes.
In Chicago, Munetaka Murakami has been one of the power sources behind a White Sox season that has caught plenty of people off guard. After three straight 100-loss seasons, Chicago is currently in position to reach the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery, and Murakami have all helped drive the offense, but the rookie slugger’s arrival stands out all by itself. Murakami signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the White Sox, a number that looked like a bargain compared with the $180 million projections he was drawing as a winter free agent.
Strikeout concerns and questions about how he’d handle high-velocity pitching kept the market from matching the hype.
Even with that backdrop, Murakami has delivered a strong rookie year. He was named an All-Star and took part in the Home Run Derby, and through 100 games he’s hitting .221/.361/.503 with 29 homers, 58 RBI, and 71 runs scored.
José Abreu’s White Sox rookie home run record of 36, set in 2014, is now within reach. If Murakami had not missed about five weeks from the end of May to the middle of July, this chase would already look very different.
Kansas City has its own rookie power pursuit going, though Carter Jensen still has some climbing to do. The Royals’ rookie home run record belongs to Bob Hamelin, who hit 24 during the strike-shortened 1994 season.
Jensen, a 23-year-old catcher, has 19 homers and 61 RBI through 507 plate appearances, with a .221/.308/.411 line. His overall production has cooled lately, too.
After posting a monthly OPS above .800 twice in the season’s first three months, he’s been under .700 in both July and August.
The one rookie record that has already changed hands belongs to the Toronto Blue Jays, where Kazuma Okamoto has pushed Eric Hinske out of the top spot. Hinske’s 24 homers in 2002 had stood as the franchise rookie high-water mark for more than two decades, but Okamoto passed it in his first season with Toronto after signing a four-year, $60 million deal in January 2026.
Through his first 133 games, he’s slashing .230/.306/.447 with 28 homers, 78 RBI, and 72 runs scored. Nineteen of those homers came in the first three months of the season, and his June run earned him AL Rookie of the Month honors after he hit .286/.353/.560 with seven homers and 20 RBI in 102 plate appearances.
Now the only question left for Okamoto is how far he can keep extending the new franchise mark before the regular season ends.
In Other News...
Royals Bring Back A Familiar Name With His Future Still Unclear
The Royals used the roster expansion to add some familiar depth, recalling right-handers Nolan Hoffman and Easton McGee while also selecting the contract of outfielder Drew Waters. For Kansas City, the move gives the club a little more flexibility as the season enters its final stretch, and Waters is set to provide bench help or emergency coverage in the outfield.
Waters return comes with his place on the roster still very much in flux. He has already exhausted his options and had been designated for assignment before clearing waivers, so the Royals are not bringing him back with a long runway, especially after a stint in which his offense and defense both fell short of league average. For now, he fits as a useful extra body, but the bigger question is how long he can hold that spot. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Just Lost A Bullpen Piece They Planned To Build Around
Carlos Estvezs season is over before it really got going, and the Royals are now bracing for the reality that his time in Kansas City may be finished, too. The right-hander is scheduled to undergo shoulder surgery next week after a frustrating run of injuries wiped out his season and kept him from delivering the kind of bullpen help the Royals envisioned when they brought him in.
Estvez had not pitched since March, first dealing with a left foot contusion before a right rotator cuff strain added to the setback, and his velocity never fully came back during rehab. While the club moved ahead with its September roster additions by bringing up relievers Easton McGee and Nolan Hoffman along with outfielder Drew Waters, the loss of a bullpen arm they had planned to build around leaves another hole to manage as the season winds down. [Read more 🡒]
Jac Caglianone Is Forcing A Big Royals Question
Jac Caglianones rise has become one of the more important developments in Kansas Citys season. After struggling through 2025 and the early part of 2026, he caught fire in June, when he mashed nine home runs and posted a 1.036 OPS, enough to earn a spot in the leagues Home Run Derby and remind everyone why his bat has been so closely watched.
By late August, the numbers had backed up the breakout, with 23 home runs and an .832 OPS on the season. The bigger intrigue for the Royals is what comes next, because the improved plate discipline and elite exit velocity suggest this isnt just a hot stretch but a possible long-term answer in the middle of their lineup. [Read more 🡒]